After reading about big ideas and
personal connections in Walker’s “Teaching Meaning in Artmaking”, as well as
Olivia Gude’s articles of “Postmodern Principles” & “Principles of
Possibility”, my ideas about teaching visual art were supported and enhanced. While
originally I found it tempting to develop curriculum for students around
techniques and specific skills, I’m not sure this is the best order when
creating work with students. Perhaps when moving into the 21st
century, it is more important to start with big ideas and themes, which will
determine what specific skills students use in order to connect with their
larger idea. This way, the standardized principles and elements of art do not
appear to be the end all, be all of the art world; which excludes the
importance of conceptualism in artwork. Conceptual and experimental
investigations for students are necessary to generate significant ideas and
multimedia works of art. This requires blending content and skill into their
work. I believe this can be more easily achieved when starting with the idea
and incorporating any set(s) of principles or elements of design into the work,
rather than forcing a child’s idea to derive after using a specific technique.
My source of passion and motivation
for teaching visual art is to incorporate holistic or psychological thinking
into the work of students. This means students should be working with big ideas
in their projects. These ideas can be directly linked to their personal lives
through personal experiences, or those of the community that they are involved
in. By working with conceptual content in all of the work, I believe art educators
provide students with the opportunity to experience a therapeutic process in
which they can freely express themselves. This opportunity to say whatever a
child needs to say about the world is frequently rare, especially within school
classrooms, which is why I believe art education is so important. I find this
to be a crucial element in all children’s lives to be taught a healthy coping
mechanism in ways to deal with the stressors of life. To support a child
through this process, personal connections with the student and teacher are
made, as well as a safe and respectful environment in the classroom. Furthermore,
to put these ideas into practice, I believe teaching art should include a curriculum
that is not based solely around teaching a techniques only, but should at least
incorporate provided or individually selected concepts. It is also important to
include a history of art, as well as contemporary practices. The knowledge of
historical and present day techniques or concepts of other artists should be
used as research, and a stepping stone for students to develop their own ideas
and mediums from. I also find that the support of the school, administration,
and outside community is invaluable for the amount of resources and
encouragement for students.
In order to be an effective art
teacher, I need to have an understanding of what is going on with my students
individually and throughout their community. This will help me to understand
their strengths, struggles, ways of thinking, resources, and how to help them
develop their own identity. As discussed, I will also need to have an
understanding of art history and current artists. Not only do I need to know what others artists are
producing, but I need to be able to show my students how they are doing it, and
ways to incorporate new mediums and techniques into their own work. This will
require me to be a lifelong learner as an educator. Finally, I believe art educators
should develop relationships with their students individually, while creating a
safe, positive community in their classroom where every student is respected and
feels comfortable exhibiting and explaining their work.
In order to demonstrate my ability
to teach, my personal portfolio of artwork will be essential to show employers
as well as my students. This work should include things in my past and present,
of various skills and interests, with my personal voice throughout the
portfolio. This will be essential in displaying myself as a continuous learner.
Furthermore for my personality, I will need to demonstrate my enthusiasm and
passion for artwork; but more importantly my students’ growth as a whole. I
will also need to be able to discuss the history of art and contemporary
practices. And finally, my experience working with students, assessments, and positive
reviews will also be crucial evidence for my ability to teach.
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